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Moving Toward the Automated Home
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19579 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1991 |
2,752 Words |
| Author
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Leslie Lamarre
Leslie Lamarre is a feature writer for the journal of the
Electric Power Research Institute. |
The dream of an occupant-friendly house that knows your needs and meets them before you ask, or as you ask, is quickly becoming a reality. Progress is rapid on several fronts spread across a spectrum ranging from sophisticated automate-it-your-self devices to the innovative SMART HOUSE, a patented home automation system just entering the market after seven years of research and development.
The modern home, with its abundance of appliances and wire-connected systems such as telephones and security systems provides a rich frontier for integrating overlapping technologies and minimizing energy use. The modern home also invites consolidated and automated control of its many devices.
While some may see home automation as a luxury, others see it as the natural progression in the development of the modern home. Whichever it is, home automation is emerging as an important global industry active in the United States, Europe, and Japan.
In the United States, three major and distinctly different home automation initiatives are under way. At the same time, homeowners already are spending millions of dollars on an existing technology that performs on-off home automation tasks quite adequately.
Motivations for pursuing home automation are quite varied. For some, reducing the monthly bill for household energy use is the primary concern. Others may pursue convenience, comfort, or safety. Still others find satisfaction in experimenting with the latest gadget. Home automation can meet all of these concerns.
The modern home is characterized as having five classes of systems that may be included in an automated system: communications, security, lighting and appliances, entertainment, and environment (heating, cooling, ventilation, and hot water). Some would add water management as a sixth category. To qualify as home automation, at least three of these systems would need to be integrated.
One stream of home automation comes from the area of commercial building management, where the systems for controlling heating, ventilation, and air conditioning have naturally been integrated with security systems. Some manufacturers are down-scaling technologies proven on commercial buildings for marketing in the private home.
The need to gain integrated control of the many
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